


Marked

by Pappels (SabakuNoKel)



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Illiteracy, M/M, Maui can't read, Missing Scene, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, good thing Moana can, implied Mauatoa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-03 01:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10957158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabakuNoKel/pseuds/Pappels
Summary: 'Cuz Maui can do anything but float (and maybe one other little thing)





	Marked

**Author's Note:**

> Wow a fic of mine that doesn't actually have Tamatoa in it? It feels almost sacrilegious.

It felt good being awesome again. He'd missed the feeling of wind beneath his wings, of cutting through the water with his strong tail, of just being able to do the things that made him Maui.

Having an audience to witness his amazing deeds was great too. Moana probably deserved a bit of the credit for getting him back to his old self but he was too proud to give her a proper thank you so he'd let her sail their canoe instead. Teaching her wayfinding hadn't been hard, it was in her blood after all, and with him actually putting an effort into helping her she got it down in no time. He'd likely never admit it but watching her master the skills of her people made him proud.

They were making good time on their journey. During the night they traded off manning the canoe so they could both get some sleep and when there were no stars to guide them they entertained themselves during the day. She'd told him a bit about her island and her family but he did most of the talking, telling stories of his many adventures and pointing out the corresponding tattoos. Some of them did their little song and dance to help him illustrate the events but most of them remained where they were and let him weave the tale. She knew some of his stories already and he was glad to find that even after a thousand years he hadn't been entirely forgotten but it was the stories she didn’t know that were the best, the look of awe on her face as he regaled her with tales of monsters he'd slain and islands he'd saved reminding him of the days when his stories were the highlight of every feast and gathering.

He'd just finished telling her about how he'd defeated a large eight-eyed bat when he felt the wind shift. He was about to lean over to adjust the sail when Moana beat him to it, tightening the sheet so they'd retain their speed without even having to think about it. She tied the line back off like he'd shown her before turning back to him.

"So, did you ever go on any adventures with Tamatoa?" She asked, surprising him. He figured she would have preferred not to talk about the crab monster since they'd barely managed to escape their confrontation with him (thanks to her quick thinking too, not that he was going to mention that) but she seemed genuinely curious and not at all bothered by the thought of discussing a creature that had almost turned her into a meal.

"Why do you ask?" He'd mentioned his former friendship with the crustacean briefly when they'd gone to retrieve his hook but hadn't brought the other up in any of the stories he'd told her. While he'd gone on his fair share of adventures with the monster he preferred not to talk about those times since they brought up too many memories he'd been trying for too long not to think about.

"Because you have his name on your wrist." She told him casually, like this wasn’t news to him.

"I do?" He asked, looking down at his arms.

"Right there." She leaned over to tap him on the wrist, right where there were three little symbols he'd never known the meaning of. He squinted at the squiggles trying to see the name in them but they just continued to look like weird shapes to him, same as always.

Moana frowned at him. "Maui, do you not know how to read?"

He shrugged. Learning how to read was something usually reserved for people of importance, not that he wasn't important but he was a different kind of important, an I-just-saved-you-and-your-entire-people-from-a-terrible-tragedy type of important rather than an I-can-carve-symbols-on-a-leaf type.

"Reading isn't exactly a priority when you're being raised by the gods." He couldn't help but remind her. It was true enough though. The gods had taught him many things, not all he'd considered useful as a young demigod (seriously, agriculture? Who needs that when you can just plant some monster guts and watch a tree spring up?) but they'd never bothered with the little human things like ceremonies and scripture and whatnot.

"Well, do you remember when it appeared? Maybe you can link it back to something." The reasoning behind her suggestion was sound enough but he'd had those three little marks for as long as he could remember, long before he'd even met Tamatoa, so the name on his wrist had to be different from the rest of his tattoos.

"I don’t know, I think it's always been there." He'd asked the gods what it meant once but they just told him he'd figure it out when the time was right. Back then he'd shrugged it off and moved on to other things but now he wished he'd insisted they'd tell him. Not that they would have. If there was one thing all gods seemed to have in common it was that they loved being cryptic about stuff.

Moana bit her lip, contemplating. "Do you think it’s a soulmark?"

Maui frowned. "A what?"

"A soulmark. My grandma used to say that those who were blessed by the gods had the name of their soulmate on their wrist." He looked down at his wrist again. Soulmate? Tamatoa was his soulmate? He… didn’t know how to feel about that. The monster had been his best friend once (more like his only friend) but even before their bloody falling out they had argued a lot about his need for validation from the humans and the other's obsession with gold. He'd cared about Tamatoa, more than he'd thought himself capable of caring, but their arguments had driven a wedge between them that had only worsened over time until it had escalated into a fight that had ended with his former friend's blood on his hands and an ache in his chest that had taken centuries for him to learn to live with.

"It's probably just a story." Moana offered after he'd sat staring at the marks on his wrist in silence for a handful of minutes. It was meant to be reassuring but they knew better than most the truth in stories. He said nothing.

"Do you want to go back?" He shook his head. They were barely a day's voyage away from Te Fiti, going back now would add another week to their journey.

"After we beat Te Ka, maybe." He finally said. There was nothing he could do now, if Tamatoa really was his soulmate perhaps he could fix their relationship but first they had to save the world.

Moana nodded, her shoulders perking up as she glanced at his wrist. "Want me to teach you how to read?"

"Oh, you're a master teacher now, daughter of the chief?" He quirked his brow at her, smirking.

"Hey, if you can teach me how to sail I can teach you how to read." She said, convicted. He fondly rolled his eyes but decided to humor her. He could use the distraction.

"Alright, teach away, oh wise master." She smiled and scooted closer, taking his hand in her lap as her fingers traced over the marks on his skin.

"So this first symbol is 'Ta'…"

**Author's Note:**

> I know there was no written language in Polynesia back in the day but I'm taking artistic liberty here and just handwaving some stuff for the sake of plot cuz I love soulmate AU's and the idea of Maui having Tamatoa's name on his wrist for ages without knowing just gets me yknow?
> 
> Still open to prompts/questions/trades on my tumblr ;)  
> http://pepperedappels.tumblr.com/


End file.
